Help map Charleston's abandoned boats

Image by Charleston Waterkeeper View larger mapImage by 20090406-boats.jpg

Charleston Waterkeeper -- group aiming to protect Charleston's waterways -- has started a crowdsource map to find abandoned boats in the Charleston area.

If you know of an abandoned boat in the area hop on over to the map, click edit, and drop a pin on.

Here's a bit about the project from the Charleston Waterkeeper Web site:

The State of South Carolina has recently passed legislation banning the abandonment of watercrafts. These vessels not only pose a threat to the safety of recreational boaters, but they are also environmental hazards, eyesores and economic burdens. The recent statute, enforced by the Department of Natural Resources, delegates the responsibility of removing these vessels to local municipalities. As a result, an “every man for himself” environment has been created.

We wholeheartedly believe that two heads are better than one. We also believe that hundreds of heads are better than two. For this reason, we have created a Google Map that will display the location of every abandoned boat throughout Charleston’s waterways. But we need your help!

To give you a bit of the background on the area's problem with abandoned boats: Folly Beach is devoting nearly $30,000 to remove 16 abandoned boats within its city limits. -- A new state law imposes a penalty of up to $5,000 and 30 days for those that abandon their boats, when the owner can be determined.

It will be interesting to see how much of the removal fees can be recovered.

The City of Charleston has passed a law that allows them to start targeting abandoned boats and Mount Pleasant is considering something similar.